The last hour or so of the video featured the videographer going around to the guests and asking them if they’d like to say anything to the bride and groom. At one point he stopped by a table where a shy, quiet 10-year old boy was sitting. In a rather soft voice the young kid said “Congratulations, Brad & Jennifer.”
Who knew that eight years later, that pleasant young man would accomplish a feat that was reached by only two others his age.
Eighteen-year-old Jake Deitchler knew no one expected him to make the U.S. Olympic team. Only two other high school wrestlers had ever done so, and a person his age hadn't been on the team since 1976.
Still, Deitchler wondered: What if?
The three-time state champion from Anoka High School finished his senior year in April so he could train full-time, sweated in the wrestling room every day and came to the U.S. Olympic Trials thinking he had a chance. On Saturday, Deitchler pulled off an enormous upset in the challenge round of the 145.5-pound Greco- Roman division, then swept his opponent in the finals to earn a spot on the Olympic team.
Although we haven’t seen Jake’s parents in a few years, I got to know them pretty well in the mid to late 90s. It is absolutely no surprise to me that Jake has accomplished all the things he has. His parents instilled in him a combination of a dream, work ethic and discipline that are rarely seen today in young people his age. And now that Jake Deitchler focus is going to be on the world stage this Summer for billions of people to see.
Congrats, Jake!!
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Now that's just awesome! And maybe it provides a fig leaf for actually watching a bit of the Olympics (which I haven't done in years.)
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